For The Memo co-founders Phoebe Simmonds and Kate Casey, investor pitches are highly personalised – and highly unusual.
“We talk about the perineum a lot,” says Simmonds, referring to the body part often injured during childbirth. For Simmonds and Casey, who founded parenting store The Memo in 2019 after being frustrated with existing options, this no-holds-barred, Millennial approach to pregnancy, birth and beyond is their calling card.
It’s an approach that has won them fresh funding, in the form of a $20 million minority stake from Pier 12 Capital, formerly Auctus Investment Group, which has backed Petstock – which was sold to Woolworths – and Luxury Escapes.
The funding will allow the business – which has four stores, selling everything from prams and cribs to toys – to widen its retail network. Next year, The Memo plans to open in Perth, Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley and Mosman in Sydney. “We currently have customers travelling long distances to visit stores,” Casey says. “We want to meet people where they are.”
In an industry dominated by big box retailers such as Baby Bunting, The Memo’s approach is younger and more modern.
Simmonds, previously a marketer at LVMH, and Casey, who specialised in buying at Mecca Brands, took their luxury experience and applied it to the world of babies. Their customer-centric approach has seen revenue grow by 40 per cent year-on-year.
“Staff members are asked to connect with a customer within 15 seconds of them entering the store,” says Simmonds. “It’s not about ‘how can I help you?’ It’s about understanding the day you are having. We don’t expect anyone who comes in to have any assumed knowledge. How would you know how to swaddle your baby or what you need when you bring your baby home?”
Pier 12 executive director Laz Siapantas said the investment reflected the firm’s belief in The Memo’s “strong, dynamic leadership”, the scale of the model, and that it had “clear potential to lead the category”.
“Kate, Phoebe and The Memo team have built a business that has responded to how the modern parent shops for pregnancy, postpartum and early parenting – bringing the same brand, curation and experiential excellence we’ve seen in global beauty retail.”
The brand debuted a postpartum skincare line last year called Due, and plans to begin wholesaling it, eyeing international markets for growth.
“We really believe in this category,” Simmonds says. “We can bring what we know about beauty into baby, and people really get it. We see Due as a global brand because motherhood has resonance everywhere.”
Lauren Sams
Fin editor, deputy editor AFR Magazine and fashion editor
Financial Review
